Into the Breach
'Team Titan Think Tank Issue 24 "Occupied Territory Part 1- Into the Breach." ' The issue opens with the team passing several months to complete BREAKER in a montage. Yu also spends some time writing kanji letters upon several pieces of cloth, and otherwise spends much time personally training Tonic to try and teach her to gain more control over power in combat. On the morning of their mission into Titan City, Battling Brition watches Luke's favourite show, 'Kickboxing Kangaroo', with Luke and Reb as they eat breakfast, and then takes Reb aside for some private words. Battling Briton tells his adoptive son how proud he is of him, that, despite having a Dad (who as he sees it) is often considered a joke by people, and not respected by most of the heroes, his son has quickly shown himself to be the hero that Steve has tried to be. Steve doesn't feel he is a true Battling Briton compared to what a hero the first was, but he sees Reb as his redemption, of prove that he can make a hero, and so he asks for his son to take Redemption as his code name, which Reb gladly accepts. BB then takes out a costume out of his box, which is a modified version of his Battling Briton costume, sized for Reb, with the British flag having an R emblazed over it. Reb says that he loves it, but (in homage to Luke's drawing) it needs a cape. BB then takes his son to the base. Tonic leaves the Rumble Room after a final training session with Yu (though its holographic capabilities have been removed, the Room is still used for indoor training in a more ordinary manner) and BB enters, saying to Yu that he owes him the fight he requested months ago. Their fight is drawn out, and neither seems able to hurt the other, as their abilities are quite evenly matched. After an unspecified amount of time, the two leave the room, both heavily sweating, but uninjured. Battling Briton concludes that his son is in good hands. Waterstone goes with the Think Tank down to the simply jetty and boat that leads out to the portal to Titan City, which is at a simple station erected on the waves where Titan City was located. The station is a mostly wooden affair, staked down to the sea floor, with several prefab steel buildings upon it and the massive portal machine in the largest building. The portal station is manned and maintained by Trailblazer (who thinks at super-speed, has remarkable intellect few realise, and great knowledge of physics) and the all round genius, Idol. Yu gives Tonic two of his pieces of cloth marked with kanji symbols and gives one to everyone else; Yu explains that each of the pieces of cloth, which they attach to different parts of their respective costumes are mystically imbued, and will help defend their minds. In addition, Tonic has an extra item in order to enhance her physicality. Everyone is thankful for the items, though Tonic, disbelieving of magic and mysticism, doesn't seem convinced that these pieces of cloth will help her. As the portal generator is fired up, Waterstone reminds the team of their mission, and that the portal will not be opened up again after transmission from GRANDDAD, the teams communication to the outside world whilst in the city, until Titan City is secured from nanite control and stable and safe enough to bring back into the real world. Trailblazer tells them, that in order to avoid immediate expectation and attack from Blitzkrieg, that the teleporter will send them to one of several random locations with the main city itself, and gurantees that it won't put them in a wall. With that, they enter the portal. The reader gets a few of Titan City's current state; all the damage caused by the Tyrants has been rebuilt, and among the expected skyscrapers of the city also tower some new, pure black rectangular structures. The readers sees speech bubbles with black backgrounds and white lettering, which say that a teleport signature has been detected, following by "Activating 'Smoke in the Bottle' Defence program." The team are teleported into the city streets briefly, and then sucked into another portal. Games Master is almost left behind, but leaps into the portal behind them. The team finds themselves at the bottom of the Impact Zone, a several hundred foot deep crater accidentally and telekinetically created by Psycho-Man back in the 70s, which had caves and tunnels carved into that were turned into the Underside, the place where dimensional refugees came to live between 2000 and 2003. The crater has been further carved with a series of shelves and walkways of many sizes, which are filled with hundreds upon hundreds of Expendosaurs, mostly assault rifle wielding velociraptors, and the occasional one on a large mounted plasma cannon. Among the dinosaurs are also the occasional reptilian alien Allurian, with their electromagnetic weapons and there are ten screamers circling above the crater. Some of the team gulp as they are dropped into the trap. One of the nearest velociraptors writhes and jolts, as nanites turn its skin to metal, its body increases in size, and alters to a more human shape. A body that is new, but distinctly Blitzkrieg nontheless, forms out of the raptor, as a single swashtika, blazing with fiery energy, emerges on the newly grown chest plate. End of issue.